Cheesy Beer and Sausage Pierogi Bake

Potato pierogi pillows and sausage baked in a cheesy beer sauce, this easy pierogi casserole using frozen pierogis is a weeknight must-make. Cheesy Beer and Sausage Pierogi Bake is also a fantastic way to use up a number of leftover cheeses. So if you are looking for new pierogi dinner ideas, this is one to save.

Frozen pierogi casserole. Using pierogis from the freezer section. You know what? It’s FINE. It’s all good. It’s the busy holiday season, we are not going to make scratch pierogis. It’s all I can do to try to get Christmas shopping all done and Christmas cookies made.

So on a weeknight, I don’t freaking care – I am going to use freezer pierogis to make an easy pierogi casserole and Call It Good.

This new pierogi dinner idea came to me by literally just standing in front of my refrigerator and asking the food to speak to me. I knew I wanted to use up a bunch of leftover cheeses. I knew I had half a pound of cooked sausage in the freezer leftover from making queso dip.

What I didn’t know was what to do with them until I opened the freezer. Boom! Two boxes of pierogis staring at me and thank you Jesus for BOGO deals at Publix.

What even are pierogis?

Pierogis are filled dumplings! The word is Polish and they are potato-filled pasta pillows.

Pierogis originated from central Europe and are very traditional, very popular in central and eastern Europe. (Like, national dish kinda popular)

They can be sweet or savory. Fillings can vary and sometimes include meat or fruit or cheese or kraut or pretty much whatever the cook wants.

They are usually served with a topping like butter, sour cream, or fried onion.

If you are ever at Disney’s Epcot center for the annual Food and Wine festival, stop by Poland for pierogis and sausage. YUM.

My daughter always boils them up first following the package directions, then gives them a quick saute in some butter on the stovetop. But I guess I just decided that there was no reason not to put them in a cheesy casserole.

Tips for Making this Cheesy Beer and Sausage Pierogi Bake

Cook the pierogi according to package directions prior to assembling the casserole. This is a quick step and ensures they are thawed through.

Whisk in the milk-cream-beer slowwwwly into the roux to get a creamier sauce.

Use a proper 13×9 bake dish. I accidentally used one a little smaller and the sauce did simmer over all into my oven.

Use a good stout, preferably extra stout, beer. This flavor will sing and be so good!

Use generic mild bulk pork sausage and not Italian or sage or such.

Follow my directions and use these tips, and your frozen pierogi casserole will be a family hit.

Cheesy Beer and Sausage Pierogi Bake

In a nutshell, this recipe is essentially what I would make for macaroni and cheese, just I used pierogi instead of macaroni. So, we use butter and flour to make a roux to thicken our milk and beer into a tasty sauce. We add salt and mustard and plenty of cheese(s) to make our complete cheese sauce.

Then we cook our pierogi, add to the cheese sauce and assemble our casserole. Twenty minutes later, we take our bubbling casserole comfort out of the oven and enjoy.

That’s it folks! Super easy and SUPER tasty. Cooking with beer is one of my favoritest things in life, so when I was throwing this one together and spotted the bottle of dark stout in my fridge, it was a no-brainer. Along with the leftover sausage and cheeses as I mentioned.

Isn’t using up a bunch of ingredients, especially leftovers, in a new and AWESOME dish sooo satisfying? Yep, yes it is. Enjoy!

Instructions

Heat oven to 350F. Bring a large pot of water to a boil.

In a medium saucepan over medium heat, whisk the butter and flour until smooth. Simmer gently 2 minutes.

Slowly whisk in the milk, cream, beer. Heat over medium heat, stirring constantly, until mixture is hot but not yet at a simmer. Remove from the heat and add the cheeses, mustard, and salt, and stir until cheese is melted and sauce is smooth.

In the boiling water, cook the pierogi according to package directions. Drain and add to the cheese sauce and transfer all to a 13x9 bake dish.

In a small bowl, combine the breadcrumbs and olive oil (or butter). Sprinkle over the casserole.

Bake at 350F for 20 minutes or until bubbly and top is lightly browned. Remove from the oven, top with parsley and green onion, and serve.

Notes

My package directions said to add the pierogis to the boiling water, return to a boil, then cook an additional 3 minutes. Because I added both boxes of pierogis at the same time, my water never same back to a boil. So I just added them and let them go 5 minutes. The point is to thaw them, then they will finish while baking no worries.

This is a great recipe for using up all the little bags of leftover cheeses in your refrigerator. When I made this, I used FOUR: Monterey Jack, mozzarella, white cheddar, and a cheddar-jack blend. Boom.